


Something Broken, Something New

by TelepathicTeaTime



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-07-22 04:59:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7420900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TelepathicTeaTime/pseuds/TelepathicTeaTime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes it takes the total destruction of something you care about, to pick up the pieces and make something better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something Broken, Something New

Mei Zhou was a woman of mind and logic. Her entire life had been devoted to the pursuit of knowledge, and the answers such a journey could unearth. Answers that could save a dying planet, maybe even make it better than before. This was Mei’s purpose, this is what made Mei...well, _Mei_.

Though her mind was her greatest source of strength, that did not mean Mei was lacking in heart, or that she was as cold as the ice she manipulated on the battlefield. No, beneath her heavy parka was a human heart, warm and soft and capable of emotions outside of scientific reasoning as any other.

And right now, it was broken. Shattered into as many pieces as the ornament clutched in her gloved fists.

 

 

Like many things that happen on the battlefield, it had happened very quickly.

There had been noise, so much noise, Mei felt it deep in the roots of her teeth. Gunfire of all kind, cracking sniper shots and booming shotgun blasts, bombs exploding and music pounding. Taunting and shouting and cheering and screaming, in voices of all kinds. And the amount of movement was chaos, _absolute chaos_. A flash of green as Genji unsheathed his blade, as deadly and quick as lightning. The shine of D.Va’s mech as it rocketed on by, all smoke and bright girlish colors. Enemies running over there, allies running about over here.  It was enough to overload anyone’s senses, especially someone who had been sleeping for a decade or so.

After the stillness of the Arctic, the rush of battle was still so alien to Mei she couldn’t help but wonder if she would ever get used to it, if she would ever have what it took to be a truly useful ally. Would she be booted from the Overwatch program if her combat skills did not approve? What would happen to her then, where would she go? _What if_.... And this is where her vast mind sometimes led her astray, bringing her down one path of thought (or twenty) when she should be on a different one entirely, mainly the path that included staying alive. It was just such a distraction to have so much to ponder-

“Oi Snowball- hit the deck!!!”

Suddenly there was Junkrat’s atrocious voice screeching like tires in her ear, and his hands, one grimy and calloused, the other greasy and sharp and metal shoving them both hard to the ground. There was a loud, _much_ too loud pop that assaulted her ears as they crashed into a tangle of limbs, followed by a tinkle of falling...what were those sparkles on her shoulder? They glinted red and silver, as shiny as freshly fallen snow…

“No…!” she breathed as realization hit her at once, and again as she desperately scrambled to gather the fragments with her clumsy gloved fingers. “No!”

She was vaguely aware that Junkrat was howling like a madman and yanking desperately on her parka, stomping his prosthetic leg like an angry jack hammer as he tried to get her attention. “Ey! Eyyy! We gotta move _now_ Snowball! She’s linin’ up another shot!”

But she didn’t care. She had a goal, and Mei Zou with a goal was an unstoppable force. Even if it was against her better health.

 Then Junkrat was cursing, feverish and wild as his rolling eyes, and cupping his hands to his mouth, he bellowed out as loud as one of his bombs **_“HOG!!!!”_**

Mei had barely scraped together a quarter of the sparkles when she felt her feet, no, her entire body leave the ground in a whoosh of smoke and sweaty odor as she was tucked under the massive slab of meat that was Roadhog’s arm. The giant Junker spun her around just as a spray of dust plumed where her head had been seconds before, and when he began running as fast as his portly legs could carry them (which was surprisingly fast considering  the combined weight of Mei’s gear and his own mass) Mei glimpsed angry red eyes glaring her from a near-by balcony, as dark and cruel as spider venom.

It didn’t really matter to Mei, though. It didn’t matter her brilliant mind had nearly become gory  alleyway graffiti, or that she had been saved by the revolting Junkers of all people…

**Everything that mattered was now in pieces.**

“What the bloody blazin’ hell is wrong with ya?!” Junkrat raved at her when Roadhog finally set them down in an abandoned bar blocks away, his massive chest heaving with the effort.  “I thought you was the smart one ‘ere!”

Though he was standing so close his diesel smell curled up like a dying animal finding peace in her nose, his voice sounded a million miles away to Mei. To her, it echoed no more than tundra wind at the window, of her colleagues desperate prayers as they prepared to sleep, and sleep, and _sleep_ …

Junkrat’s metal arm clanked and squeaked as he threw it up in the air in exasperation at Mei’s lack of response, her face still as stone.

“Who raised this broad, eh Roadie?” He jabbed a gnarled thumb at the climatologist with a huff. “We mates risk our lovely skins to save her frosty lil buns from biting the bullet, by the bullet-hahahaha!- and not even a g’day?” He spat a loogie wet and thick to the floor near her boot. “ ‘Ow rude!”

Snorting in his mask, Hog raised a single silent finger to point at Mei’s trembling, clasped hands.

 Singed eyebrows piqued in interest, his scavenger instincts flaring up at once, Junkrat shuffled a little closer to Mei. “Oi, what’cha got there Snowball? Sumthin nice for your pals Rat and Hog? Maybe to _thank us_?”

Mei had become so numb at this point, trying to shield herself from the truth cradled in her palms, it was like her brain had re-entered the cryo sleep she had endured not so long ago. Wordlessly, she opened her hands to Junkrat’s peering eyes.

He smiled with all his yellow, soot-stained teeth. “Good job there, Snowball! That is some mighty fine jun- _uff!_ ”

 The smaller man nearly went crashing to the floor with the force Roadhog slapped him on the back with. Regaining his balance on knocky knees, Junkrat turned on him with a snarl. “The _hell_ Roadie?! ‘Ave you gone mental? I was jus’ sayin a nice thing!” He gestured wildly at the glinting metal and glass in Mei’s hands. “I like her jun- _mmmf!_ ”

Roadhog clasped a large, meaty hand over his fellow’s junker ever-running mouth, completely unaffected by the bites and chomps he received in retaliation. He simply took his other hand and screwed Junkrat’s scorched head to look at the top of Mei’s hairstyle.

“Give ya the thrashin’ of your life ‘n burn ya in’ta crispy bacon is what you gonna get, mate- oh? Izzat it?”

Junkrat’s interest deflated as soon as he realized that it wasn’t a sweet stash of junk in Mei’s hands, but “Just her lil hair fing, huh? ”

Roadhog didn’t have the time to stop him before he rolled his eyes and spat, “Who cares about that dumb girly stuff?”

_“...Dumb?”_

 The lone syllable was spoken so coldly, Junkrat felt such a chill he was sure even the tips of his smoldering hair had gone out. Mei had finally lifted her eyes from her stupor, and from behind her glasses, a blizzard began to rage.

“Who cares…?” She took a step towards him, and though she was so much shorter than him, she held all the threat, all the power of a glacier about to come crashing down upon his head. He smartly took a step back, but it did no good as she rushed to meet him nose to chin to hiss, “I do! I care! You... _ **you stupid Junker!”**_

Junkrat’s mouth fell agape in offense. “Eyyy now! Stupid Junker?” He placed a hand on Roadhog’s massive tattooed belly, gave it a comforting pat. “Don’t listen to her mate...Roadhog ‘ere is not stupid! _You_ are!” He threw an accusatory finger in Mei’s face, nearly flinging her glasses from her nose as he did so. “You are the loonie over ‘ere boo’in and hoo’in over a damn hair assi...asick…?....hair thinga ma jig!”

“I got it from my _family._ ”

Mei’s face was steadily growing redder and redder. Junkrat watched as the angry blush worked it’s way up from her neck to her round, round cheeks, ending at the tips of her ears. But the fluffy lil bomb still hadn’t truly gone off yet...with a smile full of slime and cruel intent, he pushed on.

 “Ooooh, oh! Your family! Your cute lil snow bunny brood, eh?” He gestured his arms wide between himself and Roadhog, the smell of gunpowder and sweat following the motion. “I wish _I_ had folks to buy me such pretty things! Do you have folks to buy ya pretty things, Roadie?” He slapped the back of his palm against his companion for support, but the larger man simply turned his head away, fists clenched like sledgehammers. Junkrat simply went on, his fire was lit, he was a ticking bomb, and he was taking Mei with him even if it killed him. 

He turned on her, looming over her with no longer with his usual manic smile, but a very dangerous one, the smile of someone who had suffered so much and so terribly, there was nothing or nobody left for them to fear, nothing left that could hurt. Especially not some _know-it-all, doe-eyed broad who wore parkas in the bloody summer turning people into ice lollies!_

“So why don’t cha go find your chum Lil Never Miss Spider from earlier, ‘n maybe after she blows your big, so smart brain into a slush pup, your brood can buy you a sparkly new ‘pizza hair junk for your funeral! Ahahahaha-”

**_“MY FAMILY IS DEAD! THIS IS ALL I HAD LEFT OF THEM!!”_ **

The trio went quiet as the echo of Mei’s cry settled into the cracks of the walls and ceiling. That such a loud and terrible scream had come from someone so small and sweet, it reminded Junkrat that it was some of his smaller explosives that packed the biggest wallop. He wasn’t too sure how to respond to such news, and simply began to nervously gnash and grind his teeth together. He had no idea that Snowball’s family was gone, how could he have known when she still managed to smile as brightly as she did, and laugh and be so damn friendly to everyone that wasn’t him and Hog... _Ah_. Maybe this was another reason why they were excluded from the receiving end of her good cheer so frequently. That and the whole being part of a movement that was killing the Earth thing. **_Oops!_**

 He half expected her to reach for her gun and put an icicle between his eyes (he almost wished she would, an actual fight would be better than whatever _this_ was),but instead she crumbled like one of her ice walls, gradually at first (a scrunch of her nose, a shake of her head) then all at once (tears rolling down her cheeks, shoulders shaking as if she was about to come as undone physically as she was emotionally).

Mei bowed her head, it was all she could do. She was embarrassed, no, _humiliated_ to be losing control like this on the battlefield, especially in front of these two. And over a hair ornament at that, when she was supposed to be a scientist! A woman of brain over beauty, logical choice over emotional outburst! But…

“They gave this to me right before I left for my expedition….”

Now Junkrat’s hearing was far from the best. Years of working closely with explosives had that effect on people, surprisingly enough. And Mei had spoken so quietly, in such a paper-thin whisper, he honestly had no idea what she had said at all. She herself didn’t even seem aware she had spoken aloud, and he went to ask her to pipe up when Roadhog placed a heavy hand on his shoulder and leaned in to mutter in his ear.

“Ooooh! A g’bye gift before her trip? Got’cha mate.” he mumbled over his shoulder, eyes not leaving Mei’s face in case she noticed the interruption.

 

She hadn’t. Mei’s mind was once again somewhere far away, not just in place, but in time. A much happier time, when her mother and father were still alive, and simply brimming with pride at what she was going to accomplish. They had watched her grow from curious toddler to dedicated student to celebrated scientist with a look of love and pride in their eyes that only grew stronger with each passing year. When she had first broke the news she would be one of the key members of the Arctic Expedition, they had been as thrilled as if the success was their own, they had been so _proud_. 

The night before she left to join her colleagues at the departing base, they had presented her with a small white box, adorned simply with a pale blue bow.  “Something to remember us by while you’re so far from home, our little snow flower.” Her father had smiled when he presented it to her, though a quiet sadness lurked in his eyes. Her mother had nodded in agreement, her hand a warm presence over Mei’s own. “We’ll miss you so much…”

 Mei had been shaking her head, insisting that they didn’t have to get her anything, that their support was enough, when she opened the box and couldn’t help but gasp in delight.

The hair ornament was _beautiful!_ With its shiny silver pin, and delicate snowflake charm, topped with a ruby as red and shiny as a cherry, it was the most lovely accessory she had even owned. She dressed for whatever field her studies took her to, survival and comfort leagues above style in importance to her, so to own something like this, simply for the sake of looking _nice_...it was absolutely refreshing! “Momma, Boba...thank you!” she breathed, lifting it as delicately as she would an endangered plant species.

Her mom patted her hand excitedly and rose to her feet, carefully taking the pin as she did so. “Oh Mei, let me put it in for you! You’re going to look so beautiful!”

 Her dad watched them both, laughing. “How will those penguins ever be able to resist my daughter now?”

Mei was about to correct her father that there wouldn’t be any penguins so far inland where they were setting up base, and that even if it _was_ migration season the mother penguins’ months long march would cross nowhere near their camp,  but her mother had happily cried “There!” and had steered her to look in the mirror.

She froze, a small smile playing on her lips. The ornament really did lend her a certain charm. It was delicate and cute, but practical and out of the way for when she would be working. But more than that…

 She and her mother really did look so much alike. With their smooth, fair skin, and round dimpled cheeks, her father often said they could have been born from the moon. They had the same gentle eyes too, wide with wonder at the world.

Her gaze only softened more when her father stepped up to join them, the sun to their moon. He was such a bright man, so hard-working and loving and positive. Where her mother had made her curious of all the world held, all its knowledge and secrets,  it was her father who had given her the courage to pursue them, to never be afraid of trying, of trekking out further than where she was familiar.

And looking at them in the mirror, as serene and happy as a family portrait could ever hope to be, she never felt more grateful to them, never loved them more.

 Even after all this time she could still see them sitting together in the mirror like that. Her mother’s warm, spring smile. Her father’s eyes that crinkled with joy, his hands supportive on both of their shoulders. They were so clear, so vivid in her mind, she swore she could reach out and feel their touch one last time...until their faces began to swim in her eyes, their features melting and bleeding into nothing more than indistinguishable, wet blurs, watercolor portraits left in the rain.

She was _crying?_  And in front of…

Her head snapped to attention from where it had drooped to her chest, expecting to find the Junkers sneering at her, most likely laughing at her. But they weren’t. Rather, they seemed mostly unfazed.

Roadhog had folded his arms across his chest, his head bent ever so slightly to look at her. While she could not actually see his gaze through his swine-featured mask, she most certainly felt it. It wasn’t a mocking feeling, nor a threatening one… but acknowledgement of her suffering, something he had either witnessed time and time again or maybe even experienced himself. Its weight made her feel a little less foolish, and she glanced over to Junkrat.

The smaller Junker was rubbing his chin pensively,  nodding along in agreement to whatever inner monologue he had going on. “Yeah, the whole world is built on sufferin’, on pain,” His lip curled in disgust, and he spat, maybe even on purpose, towards his peg leg. “The whole bloody lot of it!”

He shot Mei a lopsided smile, his eyes as dark as a plague-ridden rodent. “Not even a pretty lil’ snowflake like you is safe, eh? Pity…”

_**Pity?** _

The two-syllables is all it took to to recenter Mei, to bring her back from the pain and confusion of her heart to the  calm certainty of her mind. The last remaining visions of her parents  blinked out like sunspots in her eyes, which she swiped at with the back of her arm, removing them and any lingering tears as well. When she put her glasses back on, the look she gave the Junkers was absolutely still, cold.

 “I don’t want your... _pity_.” Her voice was a little thin from her outburst, but it did not waver. She was in absolute control now, a dangerous thing for anyone foolish enough to cross Mei Zhou. Even her dampened cheeks did not take away from the resolve she radiated, her stiffened lip and squared shoulders speaking volumes louder. “I do not _need_ your pity. I don’t...”

With a second glance, she crushed what remained of her hair ornament in her fist, the crunch muffled by her thick gloves. “I don’t even need this.”

She let the shards sprinkle to the floor, dusting it in red and silver glitter.

Completely baffled, Junkrat watched her do this with his mouth agape, his hands curled into confused claws. “What the hell, Snowball! First you’re cryin’ over the damn thing, ‘n then you go and smash it yourself!” He rolled his eyes exaggeratedly at Mei, muttering something about “And she says I’m crazy…” then met her frosty gaze with his own fiery one. “What izzit you need then, huh Snowflake?”

 Junkrat was surprised to see her actually consider his words, this woman who so often seemed to do everything she could to tune him out. It was kind of heartbreaking, to see someone as smart as Mei losing her marbles right in front of him like that. _Tragic!_

“I need to move forward...”

Distracted by his own inner mourning for Mei’s sanity, he only replied dumbly, scratching at his naked and burnt chest, “Whuzzat, Snowball?”

Inhaling deeply, she did not so much answer him as she promised herself, _“I need to move forward.”_

 When he merely squinted at her in confusion, she decided to clarify in a way she thought would best reach his tiny, rodent like brain, and that was by making it about him.

“It is as you said, Junkman-”

“Junkrat.”

She paused once again, pinching the bridge of her nose tightly, then continued on slowly, wary of any more interruptions. “The world is full of pain, of suffering,” Mei glanced from the shards on the floor, to Junkrat’s metal prosthetics. “Of loss...But!”

She lifted her chin high, voice rising. “Things will never change, never improve for the better if we let such hurt hold us back. We must shoulder our pain from today, from...from hundreds of years ago…” her face darkened for a tense moment, but like a cloud passing over the sun on a windy day, it quickly passed and she resumed even stronger than before, “And carry it into a better tomorrow! A tomorrow worth protecting, worth fighting for!”

 Mei placed her hand over her heart, though she could not feel it’s beating through her layers of clothes and parka. She could feel its strength though, its passion. “I always dreamed of saving the world, making it a safe place for my family to live long, happy lives...But even though they are no longer here, there is still so much worth saving, so many other lives that deserve a chance! This planet, this entire planet is so…” her fingers clutched at an ache deep in her chest, one that throbbed in both pain and purpose. Her driving force, the very feeling that kept the deep dark coldness away. _“Special.”_

 Her gaze was nearly desperate as she looked from Roadhog to Junkrat, searching his eternally shellshocked wide eyes for any sign at all that her words had reached him. “Do you understand…?”

Junkrat nodded sagely at her. “Yeah, I think I get it now…” He pointed his mechanical hand at her like a gun, then fired a single shot as he deadpanned, “You’re crazier than me ‘n Hog here if you really believe all that rubbish- _fuck!_ ”

Roadhog had slapped him outside the head with his hammer of a hand, grunting much like an actual pig in disapproval. A vein in his thick, heavy neck pulsed angrily, which offended Junkrat even more than the hit. _The angry vein at him? Really???_

He turned to snarl at the larger man, maybe even give one of his fat, mushy tits a slap of its own, when a sudden _whoosh!_ of freezing air and frost blew over his bare back, making him screech at the sudden and unexpected cold. “You takin shots from behind now? That’s cheap-”

Mei had not in fact tried to freeze him with her gun, but had conjured one of her massive ice walls between them and was now retreating in the opposite direction. Junkrat watched her form through the ice until the wall itself crumbled, but by then, the climatologist was long out of sight. He frowned, then turned to look at his mate, all physical violence forgiven and forgotten between them. “Wot, did I say sumthin’ wrong?”

From inside his mask, Roadhog took a very long, very deep breath.

 

 

With Mercy’s blessing, Mei was excused from the battlefield for the next couple of days. She had tried to feign an illness, but the angel’s compassionate and wise eyes saw through her pitiful coughing and had gently said, “Wounds of the heart and mind can leave much deeper scars than those of the body...Except for decapitation, of course.”

She had been planning on spending her days off in reflective thought and quiet solitude, working through her trauma logically and by distracting herself with research and work.

That’s what she had _planned_ , anyways.

Tracer had popped into her quarters on the very first day of her absence, a flurry of lively chatter and laughter. She asked “Can I get you anything, love? Is there anything I can do?” like punctuation, followed by random hugs that fit Mei like a tight but cozy sweater. She flitted throughout Mei’s room looking at pointing and picking up absolutely everything and anything that wasn’t bolted down, asking “What is this? What does it do? Where did it come from? Can you tell me about it?” but listened sincerely and intently for each and every explanation Mei gave her. It made Mei feel like she was on an expedition with a first time explorer,so eager and ready to learn,  and Tracer’s enthusiastic curiosity and wonder filled her with joy and reminded her of why she loved field research so much. It was a wonderful distraction, honestly.

And when the British woman finally went to take her leave, she wrapped Mei up in the biggest hug she’d had given her all night and chirped, “I’m here for ya, love! We all are!” and left some tea and sweet biscuits to have before bed.

 D.VA and Lucio stopped by together a little bit after Tracer had gone, also bringing by little gifts to cheer her up.

With a cheeky, pink-whiskered grin, D.VA had plopped a clunky machine with a controller in front of Mei’s rarely used TV, then handed over a cartridge with two tiny, parka-clad people holding hammers on it. The one in blue looked very familiar to Mei…

“Even a noob like you will like this one!” She had guaranteed with a wink and a snap of her fruity gum.

Lucio had given his gift much more humbly, a shy and boyish smile on his face as he did so. “I made this mix to help pump you back up, Mei! On this cassette too, since I know you dig the whole retro thing. Besides, nothing can chase the blues away like some choice beats!” He then grabbed her hands in his own and did a jaunty little dance with her across the room, mechanical legs whirring, the older woman giggling the whole way through. D.VA recorded the whole thing on her bunny-case phone, laughing full and loud the way only a teenage girl could. It all made Mei feel years younger, and as she watched the two depart together,both her chest and her head felt much lighter than it had before.

 

On the second day, Zayra took her turn to visit, carrying multiple weights in her tattooed arms like they were mere pillows. “Zis, zis is what will help you!” She insisted as she dropped the weights to the floor, rattling all the books on Mei’s shelves with her power. She had mischievously quirked a brow at the climatologist then, with a wicked smile to match. “You know, in Russia, they say that lifting weights in ze best for lifting spirits, no?”

Mei, who had been trying to lift one of the smaller dumbbells with both hands with absolutely no success, looked up at the larger woman with a puzzled expression on her face. “Oh? I have never heard that be- _eeeeeek!_ ”

 Zayra had swung Mei up in her arms and was now lifting her high up above her pink head, then dropping her, then lifting her up again as if she was curling an actual weight. Mei squealed with laughter, watching the ceiling rush to meet her nose, then away again, careful not to let her glasses slip off her nose. She had always been just a little, _teensy tiny_ bit insecure about her round, soft, chubby body, but the way Zayra picked her up like it was nothing incinerated those thoughts like the garbage they were. By the time the taller woman finally set her back on her feet, her strong arms keeping her steady, Mei was breathless with laughter and ready to become strong enough to change the world with her own two hands.

 

Then the third day came around, and on the third day, Junkrat appeared. Mei could smell him before she even opened the door, all sulfur and smoke and sweat and just... _sour_. It made her nose burn.

He knocked with his metal arm, of course, as rapid and loud as automatic gunfire. “Mei, Mei, Mei, ya in there Mei? Mei-”

She opened the door a crack, and in that small glimpse alone Junkrat’s face lit up like one his bombs detonating on the field. “G’day Mei!” He chirped, trying to push his way through the door.

“Go away.” She commanded simply, coldly, slamming the door on his face- wait, leg- _his organic leg!_ She realized as he howled in pain, his boot thrashing at her door frame.

 “Wh-why wouldn’t you use your prosthetic leg to do that?!” She cried as she flung the door back open to free him, absolutely incredulous at his stupidity.

Balancing on his metal peg leg, the other gripped at the knee in his hands, Junkrat only laughed. “Ahahaha- _ow!_ -haha! I knew- _goddammit that bites!-_ that you were the smart one ‘ere!”

Mei folded her arms and sighed, unamused by his spectacle. “And what do you want, Junkrat? I was actually enjoying my time _away_ from you…”

He stilled, well, as still as Junkrat could possibly be. He still shifted from foot to peg, and his hands flitted from scratching at the grime on his cheek to rubbing the back of his neck, to pulling and tugging at his grenade harness. So...not still at all. But for once, the motor mouth Junkrat was struggling to speak.

“Well, you see, uh, Snowball...I mean, Mei…”

Using her actual name instead of one of his ridiculous nicknames? That was certainly new...and though she had to peer extra hard through her glasses just to see it even a little bit, underneath all the dirt and soot that caked Junkrat’s face, Mei swore she saw a blush? A hint of a blush-

 He suddenly thrust something into her hands, the tips of their fingers momentarily meeting with the action. It was like a jolt, like fire and ice meeting to make electricity, a spark...a gross, filthy spark-

Refusing to let that train of thought go any further, she looked at what the Junker had given her and her heart nearly stopped.

It was a whit _ish_ box (-ish because its pristine color was now smudged with dirt and grime) and adorned simply with a ragged yellow bow (it seemed to be the same material as Junkrat’s trousers, but they were so tattered to begin with it was hard to tell for sure). It was a familiar sight none the less, and her heart hammered hard in her chest.

She looked up at Junkrat with wide eyes to find him watching her expectantly, rubbing his jaw in a nervous fit. “You uh, gonna open that, Snowball?”

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him, her fingers tight on the lid. “Is there a-”

“Nope! No bomb!” he reassured her quickly, holding up two fingers up high in the air. “Scout’s honor!”

 _‘Some scout you’d be…’_ Mei thought darkly to herself as she slowly, very _very_ carefully opened the box.

Before she could even stop herself, she gasped out loud, a hand flying to her open mouth.

It was a new hair ornament.

Only...it didn’t exactly look so new. It was made from well, _junk_. An especially long, only slightly rusted nail made up the pin she’d push into her hairbun. The snowflake charm was welded scraps of metal, from cans, from cars, from _whatever_ -but folded as delicately as paper to create its intricate shape and attached to the pin with clunky bolts. Shards of broken glass glimmered and shone within it, catching in the light the way actual ice would. The red jewel atop-

 “Oh, oh, oh! This is my favorite part!” Junkrat interjected excitedly, hobbling over to place his disgusting hand over Mei’s to show her how to twist the red orb so that- _ping!_ \- a red lazer shot from its eye…?

“I borrowed that bit from our friend Never Miss Spider, ya see?” He guffawed loudly with pride, slapping at his knee. “Right from that fancy ‘elmet of her’s! She didn’t even notice, ahahaha! Serves her right for destroying your first one, right?”

Recoiling her hand from his, Mei stared at him in wonder, her mouth still a little ‘o’ of shock. “Junkrat, you...you made this for me?”

He dismissed her amazement with a blithe wave of his hand. “Oi, it was nuthin’!” But then he seemed to consider his words, and backtracked a little. “Umm, actually...uh, it wasn’t just nuthin’. I wanted to, uh, ya know...show some remorse for actin like such an ass the other day…”

Mei nodded along with his flustered mumbling, and gave him a small, crooked smile. “You wanted to apologize, yes?”

 The way he suddenly clapped his hands and pointed at her made her jump and nearly drop her new gift. She surprised herself but how quickly she kept it from jumping from her hands, how tightly she clutched it to her chest.

“Bingo, there it is! I wanted to...apologize!” He drawled ‘apologize’ out slowly through his pointy teeth, careful not to ruin the word with his atrocious accent, what it meant that he was saying it at all.

Then, licking his lips with a loud, obnoxious smack, he turned a more serious stare towards Mei. “Look, Snowba- Mei. I know nuthin’ will replace the brood you had before this mess, or what they gave you. That never goes away, yea? Once family is gone...they’re gone. No one gets to come back, no matter wot.” He was staring intently at the ornament he had made for her, speaking to it instead of her, but she knew he was trying his best to be sincere. The dark, punishing fire raging in his eyes as he spoke about family made Mei glad for the lack of eye contact anyway. “But, uh…”

 When he looked up that fire was gone, replaced instead by the closing thing to understanding Mei had ever seen on the Aussie’s face. “Sometimes it takes the total and complete destruction, I mean the _total_ _annihilation_ of the thing you care ‘bout most, the one thing you’re so sure you can’t do without-” Mei observed he was picking violently at the spot on his arm where skin met metal, his black nails pinching and pulling, and though she grimaced at the thought of touching his skin again, she gingerly placed her hand over his to quell the movement. Junkrat jumped at her gentle touch, but quickly shrugged it off, muttering “Sorry, _sorry_ …” before setting his hand loose to mess with his grenade harness again. “Anyway, it takes losing something so nice in such an awful way, to pick up the pieces and make a new thing from it...maybe even a better thing….even family. Jus’ look and me ‘n Hog!”

Mei was about to argue him on that at once, how could family ever be rebuilt, ever be better than the one you knew and loved first? When she glimpsed her living space around her.

 The console D.VA had given her with the little parka people game had actually been as enjoyable as she had promised, providing Mei with what she was embarassed to admit _hours(nonstop even!)_ of challenging fun. The mix tape Lucio had made her sat snugly in her radio, she and Zayra had jammed to it throughout their entire workout, energized by its cheerful beats and uplifting melodies. And all that was left of the tea and cookies Tracer had left her was an empty tin and some cups that still needed rinsing in the sink, they had been that delicious. All of that generosity and fun possible because Mercy had shown her compassion and understanding in her time of need.

_**Oh.** _

 The argument died deep in her chest, replaced with a warm, blooming sensation. It was wonderful, peaceful even. It felt like... _coming home_.

Junkrat nearly leapt back when Mei looked back into his eyes, an actual sincere smile on her face. She was nearly glowing. She was….

 _‘So damn cute?!_ ’

 “Thank you, Junkrat.” She bowed her head to him in thanks, and flustered as he had ever felt,  he scrambled to return the motion, nearly knocking their skulls together. Mei hardly seemed to notice, and retained her serene composure.

He rubbed modestly at his nose, only smearing up his filthy face more. “Aw, Snowflake, it’s like I said, you don’t have to thank me for makin’ that for-”

Mei shook her head, and really _beamed_ at him. “No no no, thank you...for everything.”

“Everything? What do you-hey!” But Mei was already pushing him out the door, laughing breezily as she did so.

“Thank you, but Mercy granted me one more day of peace, and I intend to take full advantage of it. Bye bye~!”

She slammed the door shut before he could get another word in, and Junkrat simply stood there for awhile, arguing internally with himself that it was to make sure she didn’t start crying or freaking out again after he was gone, and _not_ to try and feel the warmth of her smile once more through the door. It wasn’t until he heard Mei sing from inside her quarters, “I can still smell youuu, Junkman!” that the Junker hobbled away, his dirty face split wide with a smile of his own.

 

When Mei finally returned to the battlefield the next day, and Junkrat saw his gift swaying prettily in her hair as she duck and dove through the chaos of fighting, the perfect definition of focus now, did a thought strike him (and that was something truly special, because thoughts rarely occurred to him at all, let alone strike the way this one did, like an arrow in his oil-filled heart). And it was about the rubbish Mei had been spewing that day, about the world being good, and being worth protecting, and all that noise.

He had always known the world to be cruel, and this he still believed more than anything. The world was suffering, the world was pain, the world was hardly worth the bombs he was going to use to blow it to absolute smithereens with Hog one day.  ****The world was a nasty shithole to Junkrat, and for every ounce of pain it had dealt him, he was going to pay back a million fold, a billion fold, in fire and heat and metal. But looking at Mei, looking at Mei looking at him with that sparkle in her eyes, that glimmer in her hair…

Maybe the world wasn’t worth protecting. But there sure as hell was at least one person worth saving.


End file.
